Avanti West Coast boss summoned by Transport Secretary over ‘disgraceful’ rail service

The managing director of Avanti West Coast has been summoned by the new Transport Secretary to account for the rail firm’s “disgraceful” service, the Government has said.

Louise Haigh has demanded ‘immediate action’ from Avanti in a meeting with its MD, Andy Mellors, after official figures showed its passengers faced some of the worst travel disruption in the country. The train operating company runs services from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston – and is no stranger to criticism from passengers and politicians over cancelled trains and overall performance on the West Coast Main Line.

The Labour Party said before the General Election that it would urgently consider withdrawing the operator’s operating contract if the party was elected to government.

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The Conservative government awarded Avanti West Coast – owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia – a new long-term contract from October last year. The deal is for up to nine years but can be terminated with three months’ notice at any time from October 2026.

Tuesday’s talks mark the start of a “rail performance” inquiry, in which the “worst performing” train companies will be summoned by the Department for Transport (DfT) as cancellations hit record levels.

Network Rail route directors have also been asked to attend all meetings with companies to “bring rail and train together and hold both sides to account”, ending a “culture of blame” on the railways, the department said.

Ms Haigh said: “Britain’s railways are failing passengers day in and day out, and as Chief Passenger, I have made it my number one priority to hold industry bosses to account. That’s why I have named the worst performing train operating companies – starting with Avanti West Coast – along with Network Rail and demanded immediate action to raise standards.

“Change starts now. Through bold action to act fast and fix things, we can ensure passengers get the service they deserve with the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.”

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road show Avanti West Coast had the third worst reliability of all operators in Britain in the year to the end of March, with the equivalent of one in 15 trains (6.9%) cancelled.

Ms Haigh accused the company during the general election campaign of providing a “disgraceful service” and said Labour would consider stripping the company of its contract for the line running from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Cumbria and Glasgow.

Last week, several newly elected Labour MPs criticised cancellations and disruptions on the line as they journeyed to take up their seats in the House of Commons. The Labour government has promised to take all train services in England into public ownership, saying it will do so when contracts expire or by ending agreements early in cases of poor performance.

The party also said it would press ahead with the creation of Great British Railways, a new public sector body to oversee the network first proposed by the Conservative government in May 2021.

Avanti West Coast and Network Rail have been contacted by the Press Association for comment.